The NBA Draft Hype Machine is obviously well-oiled and cranking at full speed right now. With less than a month before the Washington Wizards officially turn in their pick, head coach Flip Saunders is already going overboard with his hyperbole. Saunders apparently told the Pioneer Press that presumptive No. 1 pick John Wall could “revolutionize the point guard position.”

Forgive me for rolling my eyes.

Look, I like John Wall as much as the next guy. I think he’s a fantastic player and will be a phenomenal NBA point guard. But can we calm all the “second coming of” talk? He’s a great player but he’s also one year removed from AAU ball. He had a fantastic freshman year at Kentucky, surrounded by incredible talent and a coach who knows how to use his point guards. But “revolutionize” the position?

The problem with Saunders’ statement is that I’ve heard it before. Countless times. Somehow, some young point guard is always supposed to come in and do it differently and better than anyone else ever has.

First it was Sebastian Telfair. His smooth dribbling and phenomenal court-vision was going to surpass anything that had come before. He was referred to as easily the best point guard prospect since Isiah Thomas. How’d that work out? Oh right, this season he played for his fifth different franchise in six years.

Then we heard that O.J. Mayo would do the same thing to the position. Forget that he’s mostly playing off the ball in the NBA, Mayo’s strength, quickness, vision and scoring ability were going to change things. Mayo is a great player but he hasn’t really “changed” anything. He’s a scoring guard. Wow, so different than so many other players in the league.

Derek Rose was also supposed to be a different kind of point guard. I love Rose’s game. Again, he’s strong, athletic, quick and has great vision. But that makes him a very good point guard, not anything different.

Wall is a fantastic player and he’ll be great in the league. But can we just stop over-hyping the kid? Let him play and prove what he’s got instead of tossing stuff around about how he’s so different than anyone to ever play the game.

7 Responses to “Can We Please Calm The John Wall Hype?”

You can’t compare John Wall to Sebastian Telfair, John Wall attend college and despite him being a freshman DOMINATED some seniors who will make it to the NBA.

O.J. Mayo is a shooting guard and John Wall is a point guard and you can’t judge what John Wall is going to do by judging some other random player that doesn’t play his position.

Derrick Rose is one of the top point guards in the league and the most explosive point guard in the league so I don’t know if you watch basketball or not, but you sound like a hater to me.

*Plus, John Wall is an amazing player coming out of college, so I don’t know why you are calling him “over-hyped”….if you are the number one overall draft pick you are going to get some hype no matter what, people said Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, and Carmelo Anthony were over-hyped when they went to the draft and look where we are now.

Kevon,
Telfair was referred to in the same way Wall has been, and had he been able to jump to the NBA out of high school, Wall would have.

Mayo was projected to play the point coming out of college. Most people saw him as a big point guard who could score. The fact that the Grizzlies had so many point guards on their roster is why he doesn’t handle the ball as much.

Also, when he was growing up all we heard about was how Mayo was going to come to the NBA and be a different kind of point guard.

Trust me, I watch and follow basketball and played it on a very high level. In fact, I guarantee I watch and follow it far more than you.

And like I said, Rose is a phenomenal player but he hasn’t changed the position. He’s just a very good point guard.

heading into the draft, wall is ahead of Rose and Evans at this point. his season stats were more impressive despite playing with a lot of pressure for the entire season. Wall had high expectations from the start of the season and he exceeded them whereas rose was noticed only after the NCAA tournament. i think wall will be as good if not better than rose.

Thank god someone wrote a column on this, I literally LOL’ed when Saunders made that statement. Wall is a great player, but “revolutionize the position?” What unique talent does he have that would completely change what it means to be a point guard?